Mt. Shasta in July - school me or wanna come?

[Sinecure]

Thinking about a trip to Shasta next weekend (16-18 July). I know a little about the mountain, but haven't climbed/skied it. Would love to hear advice from those who have. I'm thinking about hiking/climbing and skiing some part of it that's got relatively good snow. Probably drive as far up as we can, then hike and camp. With luck, we'll get to summit and ski back down most of the way. I have most of the necessary gear, but will borrow/rent what I don't have.

PM me if interested in joining. If you have great advice to share, please post in this thread. Thanks.

[Buell]

East side from the Brewer Creek Trailhead is probably your best bet this late in the season. It is one of my favorite volcano lines. The red line in the photo below is close to 7000 feet of vertical!

Two and a half weeks ago when I climbed the Avy Gulch route (the main climbing route for most people who climb Shasta) the suncups were almost up to Helen Lake at 10,400'. Last weekend, they were only up to 8500' on the east side.

Both last Saturday and Sunday I summitted and rode from the top on the east side. The snow was great for almost 6000' off the summit. :D Of course, it will be less vertical of good riding snow by the time you get there. The suncups down low will be big.

Climbing the east side is pretty straight forward from the Brewer Creek TH. Just head toward the mountain. It can be slightly tricky getting back to the TH from the mountain. A GPS is a good idea.

Enjoy Shasta!

Here is a photo of the line and route and one from the summit looking down 7000 feet of snow.

[Buell]

A couple of additions:

In the photo, the route crosses the small rocky ridge at 13,000' before the final pitch to the summit. The climbing gets harder after the crossover.

At almost 14,200' Shasta is way up there and the air gets pretty thin. Acclimation has been an issue for me sometimes (I live at 400 feet). Spending a couple of nights at some elevation could really help when you are in the final 1000 feet.

The red line in the photo is just the main route up and down. I have also stayed left of the crossover on the way down and ridden those wide open snowfields pretty far down. Just make sure you can easily enough get back to your camp and pick a good place to cross the rock ridges.

[Sinecure]

Thanks Buell. I've been reading up on stuff. Brewer Creek TH is definitely the plan. The road to get there opened in the past few days. Hopefully the sun cups won't be too bad. I live at 500', but spend a lot of time at altitude. Last weekend I slept 3 nights at 8500' and Monday hiked from 9600' to 11000' before skiing back down over brutal suncups for all but the first 6-700' vertical. Still, if I can't make the summit, it just means I've gotten my feet wet and have a reason to go back another time.

So, none of you Oregon or NorCal fools want to join me?